Youth Olympic Games - What is it all about?

The IOC launched the Youth Olympic Games at the 119th IOC Session in Guatemala City in July 2007. The Games aim to bring together talented young athletes - age group 14 to 18 - from around the world in an event which balances sport, education and culture.

The Vision

The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) stated vision for the Youth Olympic Games is:

"is to inspire young people around the world to participate in sport and adopt and live by the Olympic values"

Alongside the competition and sporting aspect of the Games, there will be educational programmes on the Olympic values, the benefits of sport for a healthy lifestyle, the social values sport can deliver and the dangers of doping and of training to excess and/or of inactivity.

The Objectives

The IOC's stated objectives for the Youth Olympic Games are:

1. to bring together the world's best young athletes and celebrate them
2. to offer a unique and powerful introduction to Olympism
3. to innovate in educating and debating Olympic values and challenges of society
4. to share and celebrate the cultures of the world in a festive atmosphere
5. to reach youth communities throughout the world to promote Olympic values
6. to raise sports awareness and participation among young people
7. to act as a platform for initiatives within the Olympic Movement
8. to be an event of the highest international sporting standard

Buenos Aires 2018

Buenos Aires, Argentina was chosen to host the third Summer Youth Olympic Games on 06 - 18th October 2018.

The proposal of Buenos Aires 2018 is to serve as a catalyst - through cultural, sport, and educational activities based on Olympism and its values, in addition to the infrastructure works that are on the way - for human, urban and social development in the city.
The goal is to leave a real mark and legacy before, during, and after the Games, by bringing sports closer to people and creating activities that promote culture and education.

There will be a total of 31 sports with athletes aged between 15 - 18 years, from 206 countries.

Nanjing 2014

Nanjing, China was chosen to host the second Summer Youth Olympic Games on 10 February 2010 at the 122nd IOC session in Vancouver, Cananda.

The slogan of the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games is "Share the Games, Share our Dreams".

Nanjing 2014 aims to:

Boost self-understanding, active participation and creativity in young people both in the sports arena and in everyday life;
Promote understanding of other cultures, build up friendships, and help young people to appreciate responsibility in a mature way;
Advocate fair competition and respect for the rules;
Build awareness of a healthy lifestyle and protection of the environment;
Boost self-confidence of young people.

The Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games will encompass all 28 sports on the Olympic programme and will be held from August 16th to 28th.

Singapore 2010

Singapore were choosen as host city for the first Youth Olympic Games which featured all the sports on the programme for the 2012 Olympic Games, but with a more limited number of disciplines and events.

The first Summer Youth Olympic Games gathered approximately 3,200 athletes and 800 officials.

One hundred sailors competed in four sailing events. Ian Barrows (ISV) took gold in the one person dinghy boys (Byte CII); Lara Vadlau (AUT) was victorious in the one person dinghy girls (Byte CII); Mayan Rafic (ISR) came out on top in the windsurfing boys (Techno 293) and Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam picked up gold in the windsurfing girls (Techno 293).